Before Abs, the Baby Pictures

This year, Men's Health magazine is celebrating its 25th birthday—but the truth is, it's technically more like 27.

In 1986, Prevention magazine launched a supplemental edition of Men's Health to see if guys cared about their health enough to read an entire magazine dedicated to it. When male readers responded with a resounding yes!, MH was born, and officially kicked off its run in '88. Twenty-five years later, it isthe undisputed #1 men's magazine brand in the world.

But that success all started with the first test issue. So last month, on a birthday kick, editors dug out the edition from the archives to look back. You'll see a few dated headlines—current editors giggled at "The Great Condom Test of 1986"—and cheesy illustrations, but of course, you're drawn immediately to the striking cover shot: a shirtless man cradling his young (and very naked) son.

Some sleuthing located the father-and-son pair—and then they were invited to join in on the fun. In October, original cover stars Francis and Matthew Bouley came to the magazine's 25th birthday bash in New York City, where they were the hit of the party.

Here, the Bouleys dish out the behind-the-scenes details of their cover shot, reflect on being a crucial part of Men's Health history, and reveal what they're up to these days.

Shooting the Cover Photo

Francis Bouley, age 56: I was 29 in 1986, and doing a lot of modeling in New York City. I'd take Matthew with me on my modeling appointments to give my wife a break from taking care of him. All the photographers would see us together, so some started booking the both of us for jobs. So one day, this photographer Judy Lawne was looking at photos of model fathers and their babies, and she landed on a black and white shot of me and Matthew. And I guess she submitted that to Rodale [Men's Health's parent company]. We re-shot the picture in color for the actual Men's Health cover. I remember the shoot: It was in her apartment on the Upper East Side. We stood in her bedroom, and she was clicking away. It was a feel-good moment between father and son!

Hitting Newsstands (and Reappearing Later)

Francis: When all my fellow models saw the cover, they said, "Hey, great job! Cute kid!" And all the girls loved it, because of the baby. The baby got most of the attention—trust me. [Laughs] There's such a good mood to that photograph, especially the black-and-white version. I don't mean to brag, but every time I look at that photo and see my son's eyes, it just melts me.

Matthew Bouley, age 28: I'm sure I saw it as a kid, and I kind of knew about it growing up. But it came up again when I was in college. My then-girlfriend's brother was obsessed with Men's Health, so I just casually said to her, "Oh yeah, I was on the cover of that." So she reached out to the editors, but it turns out we just had one sitting at home, on my dad's stack of old stuff. [Laughs] That's the first time I really remember seeing it.

Francis: I have a framed copy of it now, so I see it in my house all the time. It's part of the family archives. For me it was a beautiful shot that launched my career. And people still comment on it today!

Baring it All

Francis: When Judy told me about the nudity, I didn't have a problem with it whatsoever, since I was in decent shape, and my son was a year old. So I consented to that, because he was so cute.

Matthew: Well, it's definitely not your typical cover with a jacked celebrity, huh? Everyone's seen my naked butt. I laugh about it all the time with my friends now.

Showing up to the Party

Matthew: The Men's Health birthday party was really cool, and very unexpected. We figured we'd go, sit there, shake a couple hands, and eat some appetizers. But then they actually featured us at the party. They made a blow-up version of that first cover, and [Men's Health Editor in Chief] Bill Phillips presented it to us on stage. That was great. People thought it was cool that we were there.

Francis: We sat in the VIP section, so we met some celebrities, like Dylan McDermott and the gentleman from Oz, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. He asked us, "So what brings you to the party?" And I say, "Well, if you turn around and look at that big cover of the first magazine, that's us!"

Matthew: All the people there were like, "Woah, you were the baby!"

Life After Modeling

Francis: After the first Men's Health cover, I did another one in 1989. Matthew and I were also on the cover of Babytalk and Parents, and we did some catalog shots for [the now-defunct] Alexander's derpatment store. After moving to Hartsdale, New York, 20 years ago, I modeled full time into the 1990s, then got into the construction business. I'll still audition occasionally. I'm still living the dream and want to pursue TV commercials, but I work at Trader Joe's now. I was just promoted to manager. They've been really good to me over the last 5 years.

Matthew: I "gave up" modeling as a kid—or rather, I never really got into that. [Laughs] So I work in finance now. After working at Thomson Reuters for a few years, I went to NYU-Stern Business School, where I just graduated. Now I do investment research at RBC Capital Markets in Manhattan.

Reading Men's Health Today

Francis: It's a much thicker magazine than it used to be! It's just great to see the success of the magazine. Who knew back then it was going to last? Now here we are: Guys want to know about their health. They want to live longer.

Matthew: There's a lot of good stuff in there. It's all the things I'm interested in, put in one place.

Attending Another Party in 25 Years

Matthew: Oh yeah, we have to keep this going.

Francis: I'm there! You'll probably have to send a limo for me, but I'll be there! [Laughs]

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